Study: Vouchers help struggling schools improve test scores

TALLAHASSEE (AP) -- Florida's voucher system has helped low-performing public schools improve by forcing them to compete for students, a new study released Wednesday found.

The study by the conservative Manhattan Institute compared test score improvements at schools facing the possibility of vouchers with similarly low-performing schools without the threats of vouchers. The study's authors said the potential of vouchers led to dramatic gains in test scores.

"Rather than drain public schools of talent and money, vouchers in Florida appear to provide public schools with the incentives to use their resources more efficiently and improve student achievement," said Jay P. Greene, a senior fellow with the institute and the study's lead author.

Under the 1999 law pushed by Gov. Jeb Bush, schools are graded based on their students' performance on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. Schools earning an A or improving their grade receive a reward of $100 per student.

Students at schools that earn a failing grade two years out of four -- "double-F" schools -- become eligible for vouchers. Only a small percentage of students at double-F schools are using the vouchers: This year just 556 of the nearly 9,000 students eligible used them.

The union that represents the state's public school teachers said the study needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

"It's important that we all understand that the Manhattan Institute is a conservatively funded institute that has been bolstering Gov. Bush's education programs from the start," said Mark Pudlow, a spokesman for the Florida Education Association.

Pudlow said other studies have said it's too soon to tell whether vouchers are working to improve education.

He said the study "hasn't changed our mind. We still think vouchers are a drain on public schools. We think it would be better to properly fund all schools instead of going to these costly schemes that divert attention from problems."